Welterweight contender Felix Diaz stopped Levis Morales Friday night at the Maunoloa Night Club y Casino in his hometown of Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic.

Diaz improves to 19-1 (with 9 knockouts), while Morales falls to 14-1-1 (7 KOs).

The southpaw Diaz, a gold medalist in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, broke Morales down before the fight was stopped in round seven.

Morales has now lost two of his last three bouts.

The victory was a stay-busy fight for Diaz, who had not fought since his 10-round unanimous decision victory over Sammy Vasquez on July 16.

Diaz’s only blemish on his pro record was a 12-round majority decision loss to Lamont Peterson in October of 2015.

Other fighters from the Dominican Republic saw action and came out victorious Friday night.

Hard-hitting welterweight Carlos Adames (10-0, 9 KOs) knocked out John Renteria (13-4-1, 10 KOs) at 2:04 of the opening round, successfully defending a regional title belt in the process.

Fringe featherweight contender Yenifel Vicente stopped Alan Guzman (18-3, 14 KOs) in the opening round of a scheduled 10 round bout. Vicente (30-3-2, 22 KOs) has now won his last five bouts.

Bantamweight Eliecer Aquino (19-2-1, 13 KOs) knocked out prospect Luis Hernandez (12-1-1, 8 KOs) in the first round.

Hard-hitting cruiserweight Felix Valera (14-1, 12 KOs) won a 10-round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Gusmyr Perdomo (23-7, 16 KOs). Scores were 98-92 twice and 97-93 for Valera.

In a bout featuring unbeaten junior welterweights from the Dominican Republic, Alberto Puello (10-0, 5 KOs) won a 10-round decision over Kelvin Toribio (14-1-1, 6 KOs).

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper, BoxingScene.com and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.

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